1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a telecommunications quality detector apparatus, and more specifically to a detector apparatus for detecting deterioration in quality of a telecommunications network. The present invention also relates to an apparatus for determining the property of a packet, and more specifically to an apparatus for determining the type of a line over which a packet is transmitted in a telecommunications network.
2. Description of the Background Art
As a conventional solution aiming at accurately determining whether a fault in telecommunications quality is caused by a server or a telecommunications network when the fault has occurred in a network application, Japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2006-65619 to Kamemoto discloses that packet data transmitted between an application server and its clients are always monitored by a network application fault locator, the processing times of the monitored packet data in the network and the server are evaluated on the basis of information defined beforehand, and the determined information is stored to be sent to a monitor or control station at a predetermined interval.
As another conventional solution aiming at providing a service quality manager that prevents deterioration of the quality of a communication service provided on a telecommunications network while effectively utilizing network resources, United States patent application publication No. US 2007/0230346 A1 to Yamada et al., discloses that a service quality management device for managing the quality of a communication service provided on a network to be managed comprises an information acquiring unit for acquiring service information containing information on sessions for the communication service and information on the network configuration, an information generation unit for generating information on the traffic volume of each of the sessions, a route determination unit for determining a packet route for each of the sessions based on those pieces of information, a calculation unit for calculating the traffic volume and the load of links based on the traffic volume and packet route for those sessions, and a quality judging unit for determining the quality of service attained by the sessions based on the calculated load of the links.
In a network including both wired and wireless lines, fluctuation in line or circuit quality of the wireless line can cause the frequent occurrence of quality deterioration such as a packet loss and a packet delay. This quality deterioration does not necessarily mean a fault network but can be considered as a periodical phenomenon constantly occurring. It is called “False Positive” to erroneously determine as a network fault such a phenomenon that should, in its nature, not be considered as a fault.
On this point, the object of the solution disclosed in Kamemoto is to detect a fault in a network application, and not a deterioration in quality which is involved in a gray area between normal and fault. In the case of this solution, when the network quality falls below a predetermined threshold level, it is erroneously recognized as “the occurrence of a fault”.
The object of the solution disclosed in Yamada et al., is to monitor the quality of network service on the basis of the traffic volume and packet route for a communication session. The solution is therefore problematic in terms of real-time capability for monitoring. For example, the solution disclosed in Yamada et al., has difficulty in detecting a quality deterioration caused by, e.g. a temporary increase in packet loss, in real time. Therefore, this solution is not suitable for a service with the quality of network service warranted for a user.
Consequently, in a telecommunications network including both wired and wireless lines in which a temporary deterioration in quality may frequently occur, a solution has been desired which is capable of detecting such a quality deterioration.